Comminuting apparatus



0. KUT'SCHE.

COMMINUTING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 10, I916. RENEWED JULY 18, 191 8- l,332,850. Patented Mar. 2, M0.

2 SHEEN-SHEET 1.

0. KUTSCHE.

commmunws APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED 0CT.I0,19I6- RENEWED JULY 18, 1918- I 1, 3 32 8 50. Patented Mar.2,1920

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Oswald 16' maize,

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OSWALD KUTSCHE, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

COMMINUTING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

Application filed October 10, 1916, Serial No. 124,825. Renewed July-18, 1918. Serial No. 245,587.

others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to apparatus for effecting the commlnutlon of various. substanies to a uniform degree and to the fineness, if necessary, of an impalpable,powder. Many comminuting devices nowon the market are efficient up to a certain point, that is, they serve to crush and disintegrate materials to a fineness of a considerable degree, They, however, fail to effect pulverization of all the particlesto a uniform degree of fineness. For this reason it often becomes necessary to pass the comminuted product through and over a number of siftin devices or screens, and to return the retamed particles. Furthermore, this does not insure the highest degree of fineness, so that substances which are to be absolutely fine are generally made by precipitation from suspension in a fluid or, by levigation, as it is sometimes called.

My'apparatus is' intended to obviate the necessity of employing screens, and to produce a product of a sufficient degree of fineness to meet industrial requirements in any art. I

My device is especially intended for offecting. the comminution of mineral matters, such as paint bases, coal, when pulverized for use in projecting apparatus or fuel guns, cement,grit for abrasives, etc.

In the drawings: s V

Figure 1 is a side view ofmy apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a sectionof a part of it;and

Fig. ,3 is a section at right angles to the section in Fig. 2. s v

In thedrawings, 1 is a hopper into which the material is supplied from time to time, and from which it is fed by means ofthe screw conveyer 2 communicating with the bottom of the hopper. The screw conveyer consists of the usual tube 3 and the screw 4 therein; the screw 4 ismounted upon the shaft 5, as shown. The material thus fed forward is delivered into an air conduit or V intake 6, and the material is fed downward '12 mounted on a shaft 13 and by gravity, but the action of gravity is aided by the effect of the blast entering said conduit 6, said conduit being provided With a fan not'shown. As the material is carriedinby said blast it is delivered upon the apex of a conical bottom 7 and distributed over the cone referred to, the blast escaping through the mouth 8 of the conduit. The

material falls down and is distributed over the conical bottom and passes below certain heavy balls 8 arranged in a continuous series. The bottom is also provided with grooves 9 under said balls, for a purpose to be described later along.

The conical base 7 which I have referred to, is really a removable lining which may be replaced from time to time as the material wears it, and 'is carried in a bottom or base 10, and this is providedwith a rack 11 on its side with which enga es a screw riven by a suitable motor 14:, whereby the bottom with its lining is constantly rotated at a suitable rate of speed. Of course-it is apparent that the removable bottom is not always necessary, as the bottom and carrier may be made in a singlepiece.

The carrier and removablebottom, to-

gether with the balls and the material undergoing comminution, are mounted upon conical rollers 15, which engage with a suitable bevel track 16; said rollers, which may be of any number, .are mounted upon a spider 17 and radiate from a center ring 18 to which they are secured by suitable bolts 19. On theunder side'of this spider with its attached conicalrollers 15, I provide a fixed base 20 provided with an inclined way 21, as shown in Fig. 3, upon which the conical rollers rest. A guiding post 22 is provided for keeping the movable base in position.

It will be seen that I have thus provided a means whereby only rolling friction is needed, for it will be noted that the slope of the cones and of the corresponding tracks, both the fixed track and the movable track, is such that the angles meet at about the center of rotation. This obviates any drag or slidingmovement, and the construction is such also'that the spider with the conical rollers rotates with the rotating base or bottom but at half the speed, as will be evident upon inspection. Furthermore,the shape of the rollers and tracks is such that no definite centering isneces sary to keep them in position, because the tendency of the rollers during the operation of the device is to keep themselves on the track or between the two inclines, as there the least resistance is encountered.

While I have shown a worm gear for turnin the movable or rotating base or bottom, it is'obvious that any other suitable means for effecting this rotation may beemp1oyed,'su ch as an ordinary gear drive, a rope or belt transmission, etc. Furthermore, the shaft 5 of the feeding device may be connected to the shaft of the motor by a belt 23, as shown in Fig. 1, or, if the shafts are not parallel asindicated in Fig. 2, by any other suitable connecting agent.

I separate the balls by means of a frame or spider 24 which is provided withdepending brackets 25, and in these brackets are grooves 26. In these grooves are mounted the ends of'axles 27, and upon these axles 27 are carried rollers 28, the shape of these rollers being, as shown, such that the con tour of the rollers practically agrees with thec-ontour or shape of the balls attheir point or place of meeting. On these axles 27 I may also mount scrapers 29,'the object of which is to lift the material from the curved bottom of the rotating base and keep it loose, and also permit the air entering through the conduit 6 to come in below such material and keep it lifted andfreely exposed to the action of the balls. This spider I have'shown provided with an opening through which the air conduit enters, and the spider is held in fixed position by the projections 29 engaging posts or uprights 30 rising from the bottom at the point 31, whereby the spider is maintained in fixed position and thereby holds the balls in fixed position and keeps them from traveling or orbital movement. I also provide a depending lip32, see Fig- 3, which engages a corresponding groove 33 in the rotating base, whereby escape of dust at this point is prevented. This groove in the operation of the apparatus has a tendency to fill with dust, and the upper lip moving through it effects a seal between the inside and the outside air.

-Above the series of balls I provide a frame 34, which, as shown, consists of four bars; and these bars are so arrangedthat eacjh extends over one of the rotating balls at about the middle of said ball. This frame, as has been said, is fixed in position p in any suitable manner, and I suspend from it, over each ball and in contact therewith, a 'capeor armor 35. This cape or armor is made, by preference,'of any suitable open mesh or linked fabric, although equivalents may be used in this connection. Each cape or armor extends down approximately toward the middle of the rotating ball. The object of this is to catch and retain the heavier particles of the substance undergoing treatment and keep them in contact with the rotating surface of the ball at the upper part thereof, whereby they are speedily rethroughout except at the exit opening 36,

and except for the place or places where the air or material conduits fit in these, is made, of course, dust tight. A fan or other vacuum producing device, not shown, may be connected to the discharge top of the hood, whereby the products of comminution maybe carried to any suitable dust collectin'g device. I

It will be observed that the diameter of the discharge opening is considerably larger than the diameter of the conduit through which the air enters. The: object of this is to effect 'ajr'eductionof pressure in the hood above the comminuting device, whereby any particles of larger size which may be caught up by the blast entering throughth'e conduit and passing over the conical bottom at 8, inay'drop and fall back upon the cape or armor of the balls or between the balls upon the bottom, and to be subject to attrition or comminution. It will beobserved that by thus providing means whereby the exit or discharge pressure is comparatively small, all but. the finest or most completely comminuted particles will, return to be reground, thus obviating the necessity of screens or other sorting devices.

It will beobserved also that I have reduced the number of parts of the apparatus very materially, thereby diminishing the cost of production. Apparatus of this type is usually made of very heavy castings, and the production of these castings in as few and simple parts as possible'is very desirable, not onlyfor purposesof structure but also for convenience of the foundryman.

I provide the basesupporting thespider with its conical rollers of the shape shown, so that the power necessary for effecting the rotation of the base is reduced to as small. extent as possible. In apparatus of this kind, notwithstanding the extremest care, any ce pl a b rin s w s c charged with dust and to wear' or grind away with great ra aidity, Infact I may inclose these said rollers with a suitable band 37, as shown in 3,'and this band may be ofone or two parts, 'as'desired, and may be secured in any suitable 'way. If dust gets in in spite of the band and other inclosures, it encounters surfaces only in rolling contact, so that there is none of the abrading or scouring effect which occurs when grit of any kind is brought into contact with sliding surfaces. Thesurfacesof'ball contact are also rolling surfaces. By restraining the balls, or keeping them in substantially fixed position and moving the bottom under the balls, I am also enabled to effect a con siderable increase in efficiency. The halls, of course, being heavy, crush and-produce dust. The crushed material or dust thus produced prevents, unless removed, contact of the balls With fresh or uncrushed material. That is, the dust has a tendency to form a layer or cushion which protects, in a great measure, the underlying material. By the use of the blast indicatedand by moving the layer as indicated, this difliculty is to a great extent obviated. The blast carries the crushed material into the hopper Where, underv the diminished pressure, the larger particles drop back upon the chain capes or armor on the balls and, of course, into the rotating base also. The balls are thus constantly meeting unreduced particles of rock, that is particles which are not protected by a layer of dust, such as usually happens in ball mills, whereby the crushing effect of the balls is diminished by said layer of dust which is, in effect, a cushion[ By providing grooves in the bottom of my movable base I also provide lodgment for coarser particles of the material undergoing treatment, and these particles thus caught are subjected to the action of the heavy balls; and, moreover, to some extent, they provide an increase in capacity because there is increase of attrition surfaces. Moreover, the heavy particles work down into said grooves and drive the dust out, whereby it is caught up by the blast and carried off. These grooves, it may be remarked, are preferably transverse to the path of movement of the base although they may extend in other directions. It will be noted that they are substantially V-shape in cross section.

My apparatus is especially intended, as has been indicated above, for the crushing of coal, paint rock like ocher, for the crushing of sand, for the crushing of ore, for the crushing of grain, and, in fact, for use wherever it is required to reduce hard refractory substances to a powder.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus of the character described, in combination, a rotating base, a set of balls contoured to fit said base, means for holding the balls in fixed location, means for feeding material to the center of said rotating base, means for introducing air under pressure with said material, I and means whereby the material when ground may be removed at lower pressure.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, in combination, a rotating base,

means for rotating said base, conical rollers provided with suitable tracks upon which said base rests When it rotates, a dust inclosing casing surrounding said rollers, a hood fixed above said base, and a dust seal between said hood and said rotating base.

3. I11 an apparatus of the character clescribed, in combination, a rotating base, means for rotating said base, roller friction means for supporting said base during rotation, a series of crushing balls mounted in crushing relation to said rotating base, means forintroducing material to the center of said ball series, means for introducing air under pressure together with said material and distributing it under said balls, means for discharging said material when crushed under reduced pressure, and means for catching and regrinding any material precipitated from the discharge under reduced pressure.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, in combination, a series of balls, a base rotating under said balls, a distributing cone, means for introducing material under pressure against said cone to distribute ma terial uniformly into crushing relation to said balls, grooves in said base for retaining said material under said balls, grooves in said base for retaining said material under said balls, and means for discharging said material under reduced pressure.

5. In an apparatus of the class described in combination, a series of balls held in fixed location, a base contoured to fit said balls and rotating under them, means for introducing material under air pressure between said rotating base and balls, means for withdrawing said material under diminished pressure, and means mounted in contact with the upper surface of said balls for catching any heavier material precipitated during withdrawal and again subjecting it to attrition contact with said balls.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, in combination, a rotating base, a series of balls in said base, a spider carrying contact rollers for said balls, said spider being fixed so as to prevent the balls from moving, a frame mounted above said balls, an open-mesh cape or armor depending from said frame over any of said balls and in contact therewith, means for introducing material under air pressure, and means for removing material when ground under diminished pressure.

7. In an apparatus of the class described, in combination, a series of comminuting elements held in fixed location, a base adapted to receive, support and carry material to be comminuted in proper relation to said elements, means for introducing material to said carrying base in proper relation to said comminuting elements by means of air under pressure, and means for permitting withdrawal of comminuted material by air under diminished pressure.

8. In an apparatus of the character de scribed, in combination, a rotating base, a series. of comminuting elements held from orbital movement, mounted on said base, air

pressure means for-feeding material to be comminuted toward the center of rotation of said base, and means whereby material when ground is withdrawn under diminished pressure.

9. In an apparatus of the class described, in combination, a rotating base, a series of comminuting elements upon said base, said elements held from orbital movement, means for supporting material to be ground in effective relation to said comminuting elements, air blast means for introducing the material, and means for withdrawing said material after comminution under diminished air pressure, whereby only the completely ground material is withdrawn from the machine.

10. In an apparatus of the class described, in combination, a rotating base, a ring of balls held thereon, air pressure means for feeding material to the center of said ring,

and means for withdrawing material as ground.

11. In an apparatus of the class described, in combination, a rotating base, a ring of balls held therein, the base conforming to the balls, means for blowing in material under air pressure, an air conduit through which air enters, and an air exit conduit of larger area located above the base whereby all but the lightest particles may drop back tobe reground.

12. In an apparatus of the character described in combination, a rotating base, a series of comminuting elements held from orbital movement mounted in rotating contact with said base, air pressure means for feeding material to be comminuted evenly over the base, and means for conducting the air upward away from said base under diminished pressure, whereby all particles except the finest drop back to be reground.

In testimony whereof, I afliX my signature.

OSWALD KUTSCHE. 

